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Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows (Paperback)

~ (Author) "If anyone had an excuse to lose faith in God, it would've been me..." (more)
Key Phrases: doing ministry, Donnie Earl, Jerry Falwell, Los Angeles (more...)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

By any standard, Jay Bakker has had it rough. The son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay was only 11 years old when his parents' empire collapsed and his family was vilified as the epitome of televangelism's excesses. Jay Bakker's autobiography, Son of a Preacher Man, unflinchingly addresses all of his family's major scandals, including his father's affair with Jessica Hahn and his mother's battle with drug addiction. Bakker also reveals that by age 13, he had developed a serious drinking problem, and that was only the beginning of a long period of rebellion that intensified during his father's years in prison. After his father's release, Jim and Jay began to rebuild their relationship, and Jay, though still struggling with alcoholism, discerned a calling to ministry. After several false starts he built a ministry to young people in Atlanta called Revolution. As a minister, Bakker's main interest is in the kids that churches overlook--the pierced, tattooed, smoking, drinking kind. The message of this ministry, like the message of this book, is simple: "Jesus loves you for who you are, not who you can become." Bakker says that he still works every day to learn that lesson, and to pass it on to others, as he does with some eloquence in Son of a Preacher Man. --Paul Power --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From Publishers Weekly

From the opening epigram (a passage from Romans about learning from trials and adversities) to the rousing concluding chapter, this memoir by the son of the scandal-ridden televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker inspires, captivates and entertains. Even before his dad was arrested, Jay confesses, family life began to fall apart: Mom was addicted to drugs, and Jay's 16-year-old sister ran off to marry her beau. And then, in a haze of scandal, his father, whom Jay lionizes, was sentenced in 1989 to 45 years in prison. Jay's portrait of Papa Bakker is extremely sympathetic--at times, a tad too worshipful. He also includes a touching vignette about Jimmy Swaggart, who agreed to help Jay get his father's prison sentence reduced when no other big-name pastors dared to intervene. In the years since his father was released from prison, young Jay Bakker has discovered he's an alcoholic, and gotten sober; fallen in love, and gotten married; and realized he's a sinner, and gotten right with God. He's now a pastor--a tattooed, hip pastor--in Atlanta, ministering to street youth on skateboards. Readers are sure to love Bakker's delightfully down-to-earth, slightly self-mocking tone ("For a while I thought I was Jim Morrison," he says about his acid-tripping, cowboy-boot-sporting days in high school), and will hope he'll somehow carve out time to write more books.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: HarperOne (December 24, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 006251699X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0062516992
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #614,796 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Bakker
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Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows
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Customer Reviews

46 Reviews
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 (12)
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (46 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars I've Felt the Same Flames, April 5, 2001
By Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
My brother and I bought this book together. We've both read it. We've both gone through a similar experience as Jay (though not on the same scale), having had a father who was a pastor and made some huge mistakes that cost him his ministry. To this day, fifteen years later, his mistakes affect us and our families.

Does it sound like I'm whining? I'm not. But, then again, maybe I just needed to get that off my chest--which is exactly what Jay Bakker does in this book.

I was fascinated by an insider's view of what happened to the Bakkers and, though I never appreciated PTL ministries myself, it gave me some respect for what they originally started out doing. It seems the family was unnecessarily ravaged, especially by fellow churchgoers, but my one complaint is that Jay doesn't come totally clean and admit the long-term damage some of his father's choices had. Oh, he does to some extent, but he still seems to have a bit of that "Isn't my dad the best?" attitude of a child. I love my own father, I've forgiven him, but I can't gloss over the wrongs he committed. I never will.

Jay is open about his own mistakes, though. He paints an accurate picture of the pressures and internal motivations of a child in the limelight. I could relate to many of his frustrations with organized religion.

Overall, this book reads quickly, and I thought Jay's message of God's grace was powerful. I was moved by his encounter with Jerry Falwell, the man he lays most of the blame upon. While honestly airing his feelings, Jay shows the need for--and the freeing power of--forgiveness. A lesson he learned from his father.

Jim Bakker's book is entitled, "I Was Wrong." I'd like to read it and see if he doesn't unveil more of his own faults in what went on. But, to have raised a son through all that who still loves and follows God...that's impressive.

I, too, was the son of a preacher man. I know what it takes to move on. And, through this book, I'd say Jay does too.

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Daughter of a preacher man, September 6, 2003
By Jen (Gresham, Oregon) - See all my reviews
My brother just got married a couple months ago, they played the old song "Son of a Preacher Man" at the reception, so when I saw the title of this book it really caught my eye. I grew up as a preacher's kid, so I can relate, but only slightly, to what Jay went through growing up. Though, the whole country never hated my dad.
One lesson that must be learned from this book is that we must learn to love. The "American church" has gotten so far off in that area. We must remember that all preachers, pastors, evangelists, teachers, yes, and even apostles and prophets, are also just human and therefore make mistakes. But God is willing to forgive them when they repent, so what gives us the right to stop loving and start hating? What gives us the right to not forgive?
This book was actually the first time I have heard anything positive about Jim Bakker since all these things happened in the 80's when I was a small child. That in itself shows that the American church is in trouble - We need a revolution in the church!!!
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best REAL religious books I have read, May 21, 2001
Heard Terry Gross on Fresh Air on National Public Radio (NPR) interview Jay Bakker on February 1 2001 and had to pull over and park so I could take in the whole interview, because it was the best interview of a "Christian" I had ever heard. And this is a book that everyone Christian or Jew, Buddhism or Agnostic will appreciate. It is NOT a holier than thou book, which I am so thankful for.


Thanks to Terry Gross for having the author on. Check out NRP's website and read/hear the whole interview and I guarantee that most people will want to buy this book. It is a book that made me cry and in the end it made me throw high 5's in the air. I was cheering the author on and celebrating his journey out of the wilderness.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Holiness??
Alright, let me first start off by saying I only got about 50 pages into the book. Like some others, I still don't think that Jay gets it. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Logan T. Justice

5.0 out of 5 stars God Uses No Perfect People
My title was a statement made by Jay Bakker. Those few words are true enough to be scripture. 'God uses no perfect people'. Reading those words stops me dead in my tracks. Read more
Published on September 26, 2007 by So. Calif book reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Jay communicates the love that Jesus has for you no matter what organized religion says
"Son of a Preacher Man" gives a candid glimpse inside Jay Bakker's life. As you may know, Jay Bakker is a Christian minister and the son of televangelist Jim Bakker. Read more
Published on June 29, 2007 by J. Abercrombi

4.0 out of 5 stars A touching autobiography.
For someone who grew up in a glam and glitzy tacky lifestyle, Jay Bakker has really been through it all and has experienced a lot. Read more
Published on June 24, 2007 by Brian Blueskye

4.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent, heartfelt and honest
Jay Bakker's memoir about his experiences as son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and his emergence as a minister himself is an engaging portrait of the phoenix rising from the ashes... Read more
Published on June 18, 2007 by Charles - Music Lover

5.0 out of 5 stars He's a REVOLUTIONARY with the RIGHT idea !!
Simply put... Jay Bakker has taken the hate & judgement out of Christianity and actually put back the love, understanding, tolerance & forgiveness it was meant to have. Read more
Published on March 25, 2007 by Elphaba

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling story that reads easily
I became interested in Jay's story following a chance encounter with his show on Sundance channel. Although I had expected more information about his ministry in the book, I was... Read more
Published on March 19, 2007 by Jennifer Newton

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding Grace...
...is what Jay Bakker was trying to do his entire life and this book gives some details on the bumps in the road he encountered. Read more
Published on June 6, 2005 by D. Smithee

4.0 out of 5 stars Moving story but...
I wish this guy would just tell his story and let the reader take from it what they will. I am not a church goer, but I do believe in God. Read more
Published on March 22, 2005 by WeezyBoPeep

5.0 out of 5 stars the life of a P.K......
Being a Preachers Son myself, i bought this book to see just what he had to say on the subject of his father. Read more
Published on July 16, 2004 by B. Goldsberry

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